Look who is swimming!

Gavin was already swimming without swimmies by the time he was Nolen's age. So....Eric is determined to have Nolen swimming by the end of the summer. We have a pool and we definitely want him to know how to swim in case of an emergency. Eric taught him to swim to the edge and hold on and work his way to the stairs. He did great!
He drank quite a bit of water and in perfect Nolen fashion.....threw up after he finished swimming. He said that his tummy hurt, threw up all the water he drank (and his popsicle) and has been fine ever since.

Don't ask me what he is screaming before he jumps in the water....I have no clue!! (Possibly counting??!)

Ooops....I forgot my 20 week post!

I am officially 21 weeks pregnant as of this past Saturday!
I have gained 14.5 lbs so far.  Apparently, they have 2 different scales and there is a slight difference between them.  I thought I had only gained like 4 lbs so I freaked out.  However, I had definitely gained a lot more than that at 20 weeks with Gavin and Nolen so that isn't too bad.  Please Lord.....don't let me be a fat tub-o-lard by the end of this pregnancy!
I am feeling pretty good.  I took the boys out the other day to a little park where they could play in the water (which Gavin informed me was "lame"--he is 5!), it was really hot and there was no shade to be found.  I thought I was going to die!  As if that wasn't enough torture for one day....we then headed to JoAnn's and Target and by the time we got home I was pooped! 
Here are my 20 21 week pictures!

The Annual Gifford Crawfish Boil!

Eric LOVES crawfish.  He loves cooking them and eating them.  Gavin also shares in his love of crawfish.....as does our nephew Wyatt (whose parents literally had to make him stop eating them). 
We had a crawfish boil a few weeks ago and the boys had sooo much fun.  We had some friends over and the kids got to swim all day. 
I could not partake of the crawfish but Eric made me some amazing crab legs which I scarfed down hidden in a corner so I would not have to share! HA!  I did pig out on the sausage, potatoes and corn and they were ah-ma-zing!!  I also peeled crawfish for Gavin--I couldn't keep up!
Nolen tried the crawfish but said it was "tooooo spicy"!
Before Eric started cooking.....the boys had a BLAST playing with the crawfish. 

Hey Mom....check this thing out!

Can you eat them BEFORE they are cooked?  Oh wait....they are still alive!

This thing is SOOO cool!

He is REALLY checking it out!

What is in your pants??!!!

Nolen loves to sneak and take toys with him to bed.  He loves little men and almost ALWAYS has one in his hand.  When we moved the boys bed we found TONS of toys between the bed and the wall.  We told him he couldn't take toys with him to bed anymore. 
A few days ago he came into our room at about 5 in the morning.  He always comes to my side and says "lift me up".  I reached down to pick him up and his arms were down beside him.  He wouldn't lift them so I could pick him up.  I had to go to the bathroom anyways....so I got out of bed and went to lift him up.  I then realized he had his hands down the front of his pants!  I reached down and felt something in his pants....it was 2 GI Joe men!  He had went downstairs and got them and I guess he thought that if he hid them in his pants then no one would notice.  Crazy kid!!

Wanna help us name baby boy #3???

When we were pregnant with Nolen we sent out a poll where our friends and family could vote on their favorite name.  We didn't end up choosing the name that got the most votes....but it was still a lot of fun! 

Well....we are doing it again!  We have narrowed it down to 4 names and would love to hear which one is your favorite.  The winner from Nolen's poll is on this one as well!

Let us know what you think!

Click the link below.

 

VOTE NOW!!!!

Mama Bear!

So....ever since I found out that we are having another boy I have had lots of feelings. 
1.  Guilt.....I felt so bad for wishing he was a girl.  What if he heard me?  What if his feelings are hurt?  What if he reads my blog and knows how much I wanted a girl? 
2.  Unappreciative.....we have been trying to get pregnant for a year and finally we are.  We prayed for this baby before he was ever conceived.  I felt so ungrateful for feeling sad that I didn't get my way.  BUT I did get my way because I am pregnant with a healthy baby!!
3.  Protective....as I watched this baby on the ultrasound moving all over, I fell in love.  It didn't matter that he was not a she.....he was perfect.  I wanted everyone else to feel the same way I did.  All of a sudden I felt this overwhelming urge to MAKE everyone be just as excited as they would have been had he been a girl. 
The bottom line is.....we are having another baby!  A precious baby boy!  We are all excited--some of us are still getting there but nonetheless we are happy, appreciative and grateful!

Oh and just so you know how chaotic our house already is.....Nolen threw his sippy cup at our Sony Bravia HD television and it is completely unusable.  He was mad at Gavin because he was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Gavin changed the channel.  We had a really nice, perfectly good television and now it is gone.  Daddy was pretty upset and had to take a cold shower to calm down.  Both boys are now grounded (ha....a 3 year old and 5 year old grounded) from the television--which has actually been really nice! So....bring on the boys!

My Sister.....

Those of you who know me well or read my blog know that my sister was also pregnant with me.  She lost her baby and wrote a touching post on her blog about it.  I love her so much and I am so proud of her.  She is stronger than she knows.

The Breathing Room

It's A.........................

Yep!  Boy #3!  I can't lie......we were a little disappointed when we found out.  Except for Gavin....he was very happy.  The baby looks perfectly healthy which is obviously the most important thing.

So.....we are going to re-use Nolen's baby bedding and just change up the rest of the nursery.  We are pretty stocked up on little boy clothes which is a good thing because I did not see one cute thing for boys when we went shopping today. 

As far as the name goes.....we have no clue.  I would really like to have a name that ends in "N" since we have a Gavin and Nolen.  I just think it will sound better since they are all boys. 

It is still sinking in for Eric and I but it was definitely very clear that it is a boy!  The ultrasound tech didn't even have to tell us....we noticed right away.